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18 Articles

Two Weeks Training Workshop on Research Methodology in Social Science

Programme Duration: 28th February – 9th March 2024

Concept Note

The council for Social Development (CSD) came into being in 1962 under the leadership of Durgabai Deshmukh as an informal group of scholars with the objective of conducting seminal research in the area of social development. It was formally registered in 1970. Over the last five decades, the research undertaken by the scholars in the Council has not only expanded the contours of research in the domain of social development but has also helped policy makers and development practitioners in formulating people-centric policies.

The CSD has been hosting training workshops on research methods in social sciences for the last over 40 years. Over these years, more than a thousand research scholars and development practitioners have immensely benefitted from this training workshop.

This year, the CSD with the funding support from Indian Council for Social Science Research New Delhi is conducting this workshop for research scholars from 28th February – 9th March 2024. The content of the workshop is designed in a way that it equips scholars of different social science disciplines with critical understanding of theoretical and philosophical foundations of social science research as well as empirical tools and techniques required for conducting research in social sciences. While the focus of the workshop is tilted towards the quantitative methods, the participants of the workshop will also be introduced to qualitative and mixed method approach. The curriculum of the workshop is designed in congruence with the guidelines provided by the ICSSR.

The following themes will be covered in the training workshop over a period of 10 days:

  • Meaning and aspects of research
  • Research Design
  • Field Research
  • Observation and Case Study
  • Interview
  • Survey Method and Sampling, Basic Quantitative Analysis
  • Qualitative and Quantitative Research
  • Ethics in Social Science Research
  • Elementary probability theory and probability distributions and their usage, Large and small sample Tests based on Normal, Students’ t and Snedar’s F distributions
  • Training in STATA
  • Academic Writing
  • Ethics in Academic Writing
  • Structure of Paper, Report and Book
  • Elements of writing
  • Research Proposal
  • Publication Process

Pedagogy of the Workshop

Different topics of research methodology shall be taught through different pedagogical tools like lectures, hand-on training on computer software, assignments to write research proposal, designing instrument for data collection and field work for data collection. The participants will be required to present presentations and submit a report at the end of the workshop.

Thirty participants for the training workshop will be shortlisted by the CSD.

Application Procedure

Interested candidates will be required to apply to Course Director along with the duly filled registration form and a write-up on their research area in 300 words on or before 6th February 2024. Registration form (enclosed with this concept note) is available on the institute’s website www.csdindia.org. The candidates will be required to send the registration form to Course Director either in hard or soft copy duly forwarded by their Ph.D. supervisor and Head of the Department with following enclosures:

  • Duly filled in prescribed Registration Form
  • A write-up on your research area in 300 words

Registration Fee, TA and Accommodation There will be no registration fee for the Course. Boarding and lodging to outstation participants will be provided by the Council. Important Dates

Contact Addresses:
Ms Jaya Nair,
Sr. Research Associate
Council for Social Development, New Delhi 110003
Contact Nos. 011/24615383, 9868612087
Email: csd_rmc@csdindia.org

Social Development Forum discussion on Ïmplications of COP28 for the Indian Economy

The Social Development Forum (SDF) discussion on “Ïmplications of COP28 for the Indian Economy” at the Council for Social Development, New Delhi on 18 January 2024 at 3:30 pm.

Speaker: Dr. Manish Kumar Shrivastava, Senior Fellow, TERI
Moderator: Prof. Nitya Nanda, Director, CSD
Venue: Durganai Deshmukh hall, Council for Social Development, Near India International Centre, New Delhi.

Quality of Drinking Water in Urban Areas: A Case Study of Delhi

Social Development Forum Discussion

Access to clean and safe drinking water is of paramount importance for public health, yet urban slum dwellers often face significant challenges in maintaining water quality. In the context of Delhi’s urban slum areas, this 12-month follow-up study examines the deteriorating quality of drinking water, in the capital city of Delhi, India, encompassing diverse climatic conditions.

The study employs microbial analysis and assesses physio-chemical parameters to explore contamination levels during water transport and storage, shedding light on the often-overlooked temporal variations in water quality. The findings highlight a concerning scenario where two-thirds of water samples exceeded WHO limits at both tap and household levels, with approximately 60% of samples displaying post-supply deterioration. Seasonal trends reveal contamination peaks during the hot summer months and monsoon season, correlating with temperature and rainfall. The research also delves into the connection between drinking water quality and childhood diarrhoea prevalence. The study captures a contamination pathway from the tap to household storage, emphasizing the influence of transportation, handling, and community environment on water quality. The risk analysis reveals a significant rise in diarrhoea risk linked to total and faecal coliform contamination. Eliminating such contamination could potentially lead to a 33% and 31% reduction in diarrhoea burden, as indicated by Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) analysis.

The study concludes with policy recommendations, advocating for widespread campaigns on water, sanitation, and hygiene, robust real-time monitoring, prioritization of piped water for households, especially in slums, and further research for effective, low-cost urban interventions.

Can Universal Health Coverage achieve the goal of health for all in India: A theoretical and empirical exploration

Speaker: Dr. Sourindra Mohan Ghosh, Assistant Professor, CSD

Discussant: Dr. Dipa Sinha, Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University, Delhi 

Date, Time & Venue: 2.11.2023; 3:30 pm-5:00 pm at DDML Hall, CSD

Abstract

To fulfil the objective of health for all, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 endorsed by every country, including India, emphasised building primary health care, which is funded by the government. The Declaration played its part in shaping the first two National Health Policy documents of India (in 1983 and 2002). However, at the 2005 World Health Assembly, the WHO shifted its focus from primary health care to Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The UHC was envisaged to assure care through (a) avoiding catastrophic healthcare expenditure through health-financing reforms, and (b) the availability of equitable and quality health care services that governments will ensure. This shift is reflected in the latest National Health Policy of 2017, which talked about the ‘strategic purchase’ of services from the private sector by the government and health financing reforms. This paper critically evaluates the implications of such a strategy shift for public health care in the States of India. Implications for access to healthcare is also discussed.

Galvanising the Ship of the Indian State: An Agenda for Research and Dialogue

Monday, 31st July, 2023, 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM
DDML Hall, Council for Social Development
Sangha Rachna 53, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi – 110003

Chair: Prof. Muchkund Dubey, President, CSD
Author: Prof. Saurabh Kumar, Visiting Professor, CSD

The accomplishments of the post-independence Indian State can be assessed as good but not good enough; impressive w.r.t. the state of stasis the nation was in under colonial rule yet underwhelming w.r.t. its founding vision and charter — of Sarvodaya through Antyodaya, if they could be so described in capsule form, and of the raison d’etre of the newly founded State being, in the lyrical words of its first Prime Minister, to (be able to) better “wipe (away) every tear from every eye”. India does not come out on top in comparison to the perform-ance of many other developing countries either, China – its only peer in the comity of nations – above all.

That mixed record is the trigger for this Essay, a strategic take on the future prospects of the Indian Republic. So also the new demands on the State machinery stemming from the multi-faceted challenges of climate and AI driven disruptive technological change, and from the state of flux the geo-political and geo-economic environment in India’s neighborhood, ‘near abroad’ and globally is in, which add to the gravity and complexity of the situation. (The challenge of the Chinese Party State galloping ahead, in the undeclared contest between the two nations for ‘Comprehensive National Power’, with its own (a)ideological, ‘results-oriented’ model of ‘neo-liberal’ “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, oxymoronic or whatever, most of all.)

The Paper posits that structural reform, going beyond mere governance reform and policy innovation, will be called for if the delivery capacity of the State machinery (its “structuration and apparatuses”, in the words foregrounded by the noted scholar, Prof. Upendra Baxi) is to be augmented; not just to be brought on par with other high performing nations but, more importantly, to be able to effectively stem the ever-deepening ‘India-Bharat’ dualism by developing capabilities for servicing the basic (human) needs of ‘Bharat’ efficaciously.
It takes the form of a ‘Concept Note’ of a proposal for a study/research-cum-dialogic project for a critical review of the experience of 75 years of the Republic aimed at identifying structural factors that impede optimal performance and remedies for overcoming them. A ‘strategic management’ approach is advocated in respect of the latter (perking up State institutions to make them more functional), viz. not taking existing structures as immutable, while devising ways and means of streamlining and fine-tuning prevailing procedures and arrange-ments for enhanced effectiveness, not excluding a remodeling of the institutional architecture if necessary.

The discussion meeting is envisaged, inter alia, as a brainstorming session for getting the Study part of the project (Section V pgs. 27-33) off the ground, as in the concluding section (Section VIII, Pg. 43).

Looking ahead, the project is expected to throw up a crisp agenda for structural reform of the Indian Republic, thought through thoroughly, pragmatically from the feasibility angle in the course of a ‘Strategic Dialogue’ between key constituencies of the national polity. One that would, hopefully, be ripe for being tossed into the political arena as a contribution to State-building by the intelligentsia, as a strand of statecraft — ever a work-in-progress in any nation-in-the-making — for the political class to mull over.

Social Development Forum talk on Women’s Labour and Welfare in the Extractive Industries

Social Development Forum Council for Social Development Invites you to a talk on
Women’s Labour and Welfare in the Extractive Industries: A Comparative Analysis of Coal and Iron Mining in India, 1941–2015
By Dr Dhiraj Kumar Nite, Ambedkar University Delhi

Date: 30th January, 2023 (Monday)
Time: 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Venue: DDML Hall, Council for Social Development, Sangha Rachna 53, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi – 110003